This week we'll be talking with Dr. Kevin Kokomoor of Coastal Carolina University about his new book, The Cherokee War of 1776: Native Destruction at the Dawn of American Independence (2026, John Hopkins University Press).Americans remember 1776 as the year liberty was declared, the moment they cast off tyranny and proclaimed the self-evident truths of equality and freedom. But that same summer, as patriots celebrated their defiant new nation, American armies launched another campaign—this one aimed at destroying the Cherokee nation.In The Cherokee War of 1776, Kevin Kokomoor recasts America's founding moment by tracing the importance of westward ambition and settler violence to the origins of the Revolutionary War. And he uncovers the rarely acknowledged war waged by the emerging United States against the Cherokee people just days after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Far from a spontaneous frontier skirmish, this war was a coordinated, state-backed campaign with a clear aim: seize Indigenous land and crush Native resistance.

This week we will be talking with Carl McNair, brother of the late Dr. Ronald McNair, NASA astronaut and Lake City, South Carolina, native. Ron McNair’s story is told in the four-part series, Once Upon a Time in Space, currently streaming on PBS and ETV Passport.Ron McNair’s story is singular: he grew up in a segregated South Carolina and went on to earn a PHD in physics. With the beginning of space shuttle program, NASA chose 35 applicants from a pool of over 10,000 astronaut candidates. In 1984 he became the second African American in space. Though he lost his life in the Challenger disaster in 1986, his story continues to inspire generations of young South Carolinians who want to reach for the stars.

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for September 29, 2026: we look at the candidates running for S.C. Attorney General; both Republican 8th circuit solicitor David Stumbo and Democrat lawyer Richard Hricik discuss what they want to do with the office, which has been occupied by S.C. AG Alan Wilson for nearly 16 years; and more!

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for September 26, 2026: we’re getting back to some roots for a moment; we’re talking infrastructure, we’re talking economics, we’re talking a little bit of politics; and more!

This week, Bobbi Conner talks with MUSC's Dr. Mariam Alexander about lung cancer in never-smokers.

This week, Bobbi Conner talks with MUSC's Dr. Christina Abrams about sickle cell disease in children.

AI is changing the way students learn, but perhaps the most important question isn't whether students use AI. It's how they use it.

This Saturday, Sep. 19, volunteers across South Carolina will take part in the annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep, the state’s largest one-day waterway cleanup.

This week, we're staying local and paying homage to our home region: the American South. We’ll ask you to name that southern state, test your knowledge of cinema set in the south, and share some tall tales that are maybe a little too tall to be true.

This week, we’re heading back to school for an episode about America’s colleges and universities.